


1 Short of 108

by Nox_of_Lemuria



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl & Platinum | Pokemon Diamond Pearl Platinum Versions, Pokemon - Fandom
Genre: Bad Ending, Implied/Referenced Character Death, bringing this to AO3 because I am proud of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-04-07 11:31:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19084153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nox_of_Lemuria/pseuds/Nox_of_Lemuria
Summary: "Go to the Underground! Talk to people!"It was a request that would change the future Champion indefinitely.(remaster of old work from DA/FFnet)





	1 Short of 108

"Go to the Underground! Talk to people!"

 These were the words that rang within her head. With her team of five pokemon Cynthia decided to see what the newly built tower kept within its walls.

 

* * *

 

xxx Years Later

No one really knew much about Cynthia.

  
That is, the general public knew she was a pokemon trainer, sure, and that she came from Celestic Town, but aside from that, the Champion was secretive about her past. What people in the Sinnoh League knew though was that she had an unmatched knowledge of pokemon folklore and mythology; and during the Galactic Incident she always seemed to be a step ahead of the nefarious team. When questioned about her actions during this time by reporters, Cynthia did not talk about her own experience, but rather moved the attention to Dawn and her spunky rival Lucas. Many of the other Champions had much the same to say about her- that she was enigmatic despite being so driven and outgoing.

Although the Hoenn region Champion, Steven, had an interesting comment concerning her once he was pulled aside by a reporter in a train station for a chance scoop.

"I recall once I challenged her to a match," he seemed to be distant during the interview, as if he had had trouble remembering exactly how everything had played out, "We were down to our most resilient team members; my Metacross against her Spiritomb. I ordered my trusted pokemon to use Bullet Punch… and not even a second later Cynthia recalled Spiritomb and forfeited the match." he paused again, "what struck me as odd was when I shook hands with her afterwards out of good sportsmanship… her hand was cold- not clammy or anything, just… _cold_."

"How would you describe it?" The reporter egged him on.

"It was as, as if I was shaking hands with a gho-" he caught himself and abruptly fell silent. He looked back at the reporter and glanced at the camera man from the corner of his eye, "Aha, never mind, I guess I lost my train of thought… and I will be missing _this_ train if you keep me here any longer, please excuse me."

* * *

"So, you want a rematch?" Cynthia looked across the arena to the young trainer whom she had befriended.

"Yes," Dawn replied adamantly, "I want to show you how strong my team has become!"

"Alright, then let us not delay!" Cynthia held out an ultra-ball and dropped in in front of her, "Garchomp, I choose you!"

"Let's go Empoleon!"

The battle between champions was grueling; Empoleon and Garchomp started off their fight with a fist lock. The great penguin however pushed his opponent back and struck with an ice punch; falling the dragon with a critical weakness. Cynthia countered with Lucario and Empoleon was blasted back by an mighty aura sphere.  
The steel fighter proceeded to fall into a flurry of fiery hooves as Dawn sent out Rapidash, but the galloping steed was soon washed away by Milotic. The water serpent was no match for the unrelenting leaf storm of Cherrim, but the tiny pokemon was struck down by a dastardly poison jab by Roserade. Cynthia was surprised as Dawn sent out Lopunny seconds later and roasted the masked plant with a well-aimed fire punch. Togekiss was brought out and again an aura sphere made its mark as it slammed into the fiery rabbit. Frosslass flew out with a cry and rained a blizzard down upon Togekiss.

It was at this moment Dawn noticed Cynthia showed reluctance, but the original champion steeled herself and sent out the one pokemon that had always given Dawn trouble in their past battles; Spiritomb.

"Spiritomb!" Cynthia called out, "Shadow Sneak!"

Dawn panicked as the dark pokemon reared up to strike; that attack would devastate her delicate ghost pokemon, " Frosslass quick! Use Ice Shard!"

Despite the moves being so fast to the naked eye, it the next events played out in excruciating slow motion. Spiritomb had thrown itself out and was connected to its keystone by a thread of ghostly aura. Frosslass created a large icicle and flung it in at her opponent in haste.

For that fraction of a moment Dawn saw a look of absolute horror in Cynthia's visible eye.

* * *

"Who are you?"  
_"We are Spiritomb."_  
"Are you a pokemon?"  
_"One could call us that"_  
"Then why don't you take form, challenge me."  
_"We cannot do that, we are missing one."_  
"One? One what?"  
_"Our kind is constructed out of souls not willing to leave this world; 108 souls to be exact for any chance of our kind to take a physical form."_  
Cynthia lowered her oil lamp "and?"  
_"Our count is 107, we are one short like we mentioned before."_ It paused, as if waiting for an answer.  
"You…. you are ghost pokemon bound together, are you not?"  
_"Yes, we are."_  
"Then, if I…."  
**_"Yes!"_** it became eager, _"But we would not take your favor and not bestow anything on you in return, no, no, we shall make you deathless, just like us, and then you can have all the time in the world. All the time in the world to research legends, to obtain unsurpassed knowledge, to possess the strongest pokemon in existence!"_

There was silence.

The lamp dropped and shattered, scattering the last remnants of embers everywhere as darkness seeped back into the tower.

_"_ _You will become a God."_

* * *

There was an earsplitting crunch as the ice crashed into and ripped through the keystone. Spiritomb gave off a horrific screech as its swirling body was torn asunder in a hastening spiral and broke into fragments- each becoming a ghost pokemon and flying off in every direction from the room. Frosslass quailed in fright and retreated to Dawns side. Cynthia dropped to her knees as Dawn gasped in shock of what had just happened.

"Your….. your Spiritomb… I… I didn't mean…" Dawn stammered.

"What have….." Cynthia forced her words as she hugged herself and hunched over, "What have you done?" she screeched at the other trainer; her visible eye looking crazed with an nearly animalistic trait. "What have you done?!"

"I didn't- I" Dawn fumbled with her words as she tried to fathom the fact that she had just killed Spiritomb.

Although the next thing the younger trainer did was scream in fright as she looked back to the original champion.

Cynthia was shivering as dark oily ooze was pouring from her hidden eye; it didn't stop there. The champion curled in out herself as the ooze spilled out from her body; covering her entire form in inky black. Soon the figure caved in and ebbed away entirely- leaving behind five pokeballs and a broken one.

Dawn fought for words before she fainted in shock. Frosslass called for help; her voice echoing within the empty halls.

* * *

She woke in the hospital shortly after, her mother and friends by her bedside. She felt like what she had witnessed at the Pokemon league had been a nightmare. Dawn told them that she had only seen something break in and abduct the champion; she even hid the truth from Lucas. As they talked they were soon ushered out by a scruffy looking man in a trench coat. It took a moment for Dawn to recognize where she had seen him before and recalled the man who had helped during the Team Galactic incident.

"Looker?" she asked weakly.

"Yeah, it's me." He sat next to her and sighed. "I didn't want to intrude, but this can't wait…" he took out a small notebook and pen and looked down to try and hide his now grim expression, "Interpol is diving into this incident blind. All of Cynthia's relatives have disappeared into thin air. Are you positive that you can't give us any answers? Not even a lead?"

She shook her head.

"… I see" the man sighed and stood up, but as he went to the door he paused and looked back, "I don't know if this might jog your memory, but we did some looking into in the spiritombs pokeball. That thing was being kept in an apricorn, and that thing was dated to be over 200 years old."

Dawn gave no reply. Instead she rested back and looked up at the ceiling with a pained expression.

"….. Come on" he tried to smile for the girl, "We will find her, just you wait and see."

"I hope so..."

* * *

A few days had passed and Dawn was allowed to leave. The trainer had become quiet and barely spoke; her mother and Lucas attributed it to the shock of whatever had transpired in the champion's room.

* * *

Days turned to weeks.  
The search continued.  
Weeks turned to months.  
The search dwindled.  
Months turned to a year.  
The Champion of Sinnoh was pronounced dead.

* * *

Dawn read the headlines, she couldn't believe it, she didn't want to believe it, she nearly tore the paper to shreds.

She sighed and leaned back in her chair; her mother was out for the evening, and it was now rather late.  
Dawn didn't even think twice when she heard a slow knock on the door. Figuring it was Johanna or Lucas, Dawn went ahead and opened it.  
Instead, she was greeted by a gleaming white orb- a single eye, the glow it emitted obscured the rest of the creatures body amongst the darkness of the night.

A gale blew in as Dawn screamed in alarm and slammed the door in the things face. Reeling over what she had just seen Dawn only managed a few steps back from the door, but she saw that slamming the door had been pointless; familiar ooze was pouring out from under the door and manifesting into swirling tendrils that began to grasp about aimlessly inside the house. The lights in the room flickered as Dawn tripped in the brief darkness and fell over backwards. Whatever the creature was had slipped through the cracks under the door and a burbling sound rose from within it. The thing sensed Dawn's presence and began to collect itself into a tall clumsily-put-together form; it loomed over Dawn as she cried out and put her hands up to shield herself. Dawn had to go it alone, having left her pokemon up in her room. Empoleon heard the commotion and rushed down the hallway in time to see the invader he rose a claw and began to charge an aqua jet. He bellowed out his name and made himself known that he would defend his trainer.

But it did not attack.

Peeking over her hands, Dawns jaw dropped as she looked at the thing that had slithered into the room.

Its body was comprised of the oily darkness and was completely black save for the one visible white eye. It was vaguely humanoid shaped but lacked arms or conventional legs; instead it was reared up in a way that could be comparable to Ekans or Seviper. Trailing off of its head was what Dawn could only guess was hair, hair that flicked and coiled like many little tails wrapped together. On either side of its head were odd baubles that looked somewhat like Umbreon ears, except there were two sets, and they flicked around as if reading the air.

It continued to stoop over her as a white slit appeared beneath its wide eye and curled into a crescent moon; it was smiling.

Empoleon stayed on guard and made he way to Dawns side and rested next to her. The longer it stayed still the more it unnerved him, but he would stay by Dawn until they either repelled or defeated their foe. 

The creature kept smiling and slowly turned its gaze towards the water type. Empoleon felt his feathers bristle with an unknown fear but he kept his stance. He clicked his beak in effort to communicate with the slimy beast and asked why it had let itself in uninvited. It only kept smiling in response and turned to face Dawn once again.

Dawn relaxed now that her partner was at her side and returned the gaze back. The oozy monsters "ears" flicked and silence billowed for a good moment. The one visible eye seemed to widen as two tendrils which could only be arms formed from its shapeless torso and the point of one arm motioned at Dawn in a manner akin to pointing.

_"Dawn."_ it uttered a single word in a familiar voice, yet it sounded muffled as if someone were speaking through a thick layer of fabric. 

It had been a year, but Dawn recognized the voice coming from the creature. Her own eyes widened as she realized what was- namely who was in front of her.

"Oh my Arceus…" she felt a cold shiver run down her spine as she reached a hand out cautiously and touched the pointing limb; it was cold as ice and smooth as a piece of glass. It's body slightly undulated as Dawn held on for a moment as she processed what had happened to her friend so many months ago.

"I, I'm sorry…" tears welled up in her eyes. Empoleon figured it out a split moment after Dawn and his beak dropped in shock. Seeing Dawn become distraught the inky ghost-like being wrapped its arms and part of its hair around her in effort to comfort her. Its smile turned into a frown.

"I'm so sorry… Cynthia…." and in solemn silence tears freely fell between the three of them. 

* * *

Ten years had passed. Dawn was now a hardened trainer who had traveled to every region of the world and barely rested a day.

Many came to know her as a trainer of few words- and if she ever spoke, it was to the point and rudely blunt. Titles were given to her, _Silent Walker_ , _Ghost Slayer_ , but most prominent was a longer title, " _The Exorcist with the Smiling Shadow_ ".  
Dawn had marched through the region of Unova during the Plasma incident and easily lay waste to the sages who had supported N and Ghetsis. She had spent most of her time in Unova however going to the various abandoned ruins and catching what researchers could only call "abnormal ghost pokemon". It was nearly impossible to catch her for an interview, even when she called into radio shows she turned the offers down. The only words she had ever spoken were to an inquisitive Professor Oak, and even then it had only been a tape recording sent to Goldenrod.

_"If this can silence your grating requests, then perfect. I am searching for ghost pokemon. 107 of them. Only I and I alone know exactly which pokemon these 107 are, and this is the task given to me."_

Oak was not able to broadcast this tape on the air, for when it was played, it caught fire shorty after it had finished the recording and an unidentifiable black oil bubbled from out of it.

After this event reporters had to rely on second hand witness accounts for anything they could hope to learn. When Dawn graced Johto with her unearthly cold presence at the burned out tower in Ecruteak City, a medium had gone into hysterics upon seeing her and demanded that someone record what she had to say regarding the ghost catching trainer.

"That woman has sold herself to Giratina! Mark my words, anyone with powers such as mine knows it to be true! You can see that woman's shadow smile back at you if you are foolish enough to lay eyes upon it!"

It was shortly after this, the title "Smiling Shadow" was used instead of Dawn's actual name. To the people of all the regions, she was mysterious and dangerous, and only the most foolhardy ever tried to find her. Some wanted to know why she was catching only particular pokemon. Others wanted to challenge her thinking she was trying to find the strongest ghost pokemon. Criminal Teams tried to apprehend her thinking that the "shadow" that followed her could be a legendary pokemon yet to be properly discovered.

And those people and trainers would return to their towns babbling in shock; covered in a black ooze that seemed to be a mark of warning for those who got too close.

* * *

x months later

Dawn and Empoleon stood atop one of the highest points of Mt. Silver. Their journey within Johto had been a success, but it seemed those they were still looking for had caught wind of them and had escaped to another region. Their would-be quest would now take them to Kanto. Dawn rubbed her hands together to combat the cold air and looked down to her casted shadow.

"Are you okay?"

_"....yes."_ A white eye materialized from her shadow. 

"Figured as much….here." Dawn held out a poffin for her shadowy companion. With a squelch of ooze "Cynthia" pulled herself from the ground and inhaled it with a single gulp. Dawn handed another poffin to Empoleon who took it in his claw delicately. She placed her hands on her hips as they looked out to the new region that spanned beneath them.

"We caught one more today." Dawn declared to her team. Empoleon gave a nod as did "Cynthia".

_".... pieces are still missing."_

"That makes number 47…." She sighed and looked out to the setting sun as they stood atop the chilly mountain peak. Dawn was quiet for a few moments as "Cynthia" sniffed the air- she sensed a powerful aura nearby and her ears stood up in an alerted manner.

_".... someone is nearby Dawn. Doesn't have pieces though."_

"Oh…. Him?" Dawn glanced around and noticed a young man with his Pikachu walking about aimlessly amongst the trees. She shrugged and then went back to looking at the horizon. "Don't worry, I think he will only challenge us if we bother him…"

Silence graced the three of them as Dawn pulled her scarf up to cover the bottom half of her face. Empoleon faced the stinging wind and watched the blurred sun give its last rays of light before dipping behind the mountains. Dawn gave out a sigh and murmured something that was lost in the mistral around them.

" _Dawn?_ " the former champion cocked her head inquisitively.

"You know, you helped me so much during my journey those years ago." she let her voice break the battering of the icy winds. "I don't care how long it takes; this is my fault, and it's my mistake to fix. I don't know what will happen once we find all 107 of them… but I would rather have an answer than subject you to a life being… this."

_"Better this than dead."_

"I knew you would say that," Dawn placed a hand upon the shadow and despite her scarf covering her face "Cynthia" could tell she was smirking "Let's go to Lavender Town, I'm feeling lucky." 

**_".... many ghosts, many pieces."_ **

The shadow regained its crescent moon of a grin. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Spiritomb – No.442 – Forbidden Pokemon  
> A pokemon that was formed by 108 spirits. It is bound to a fissure in an odd keystone.


End file.
